For more transparency in the literature: Prof. Carmen Gerlach contributed to the “Guidelines for T cell nomenclature”

A consensus statement published in “Nature Reviews Immunology” provides consensus definitions for common T cell subsets, and additionally proposes a modular nomenclature for defining T cell states - both to facilitate clearer communication of findings and concepts to researchers, students and clinicians. Prof. Carmen Gerlach, Head of Research Division “Tailored T-Cell Diversity” at the LIT, is one of the authors. Furthermore, she will, together with two other authors, explain and provide an overview of the rationale behind the guidelines in a webcast on Monday, 8 December.

Read the full consensus statement here.

Date Published

November 25, 2025

T cells can differentiate into various states with distinct functions and properties. Recent advances in T cell biology have revealed heterogeneity among T cell populations that is not captured by the existing general nomenclature. The result: “Inconsistencies in nomenclature across studies complicate data interpretation and hamper clinical translation,” describes Prof. Carmen Gerlach, Head of Research Division “Tailored T-Cell Diversity” at the LIT. Therefore, she has contributed to guidelines for T cell nomenclature proposing a modular nomenclature for defining T cell subsets.

The so-called consensus statement was published to serve three goals: First, they advocate that primary research reports state the experimental basis by which T cell subsets are defined in this study in the methods section. Second, they provide standardized definitions for existing subset designations in popular use, and common experimental criteria for defining each subset are noted. Lastly, they present an alternative ‘modular nomenclature’ paradigm.

The newly proposed modular nomenclature avoids conceptualization of antigen-experienced T cells as belonging to a few idealized subsets, and the nomenclature instead simply indicates individual biological properties present in a T cell population with brief descriptors.

Although the authors encourage journal editors to have an active role in supporting their recommendation, the intention is “not to police gold-standard experimental requirements for designating subsets but to achieve better clarity without demanding that readers scrutinize every figure (or supplementary figure) for this information.”

In a webcast, Prof. Carmen Gerlach and two other authors involved – Prof. David Masopust, University of Minnesota, USA and Prof. Rafi Ahmed, Emory University, USA – will provide an overview of the rationale behind the guidelines and answer questions from the online audience concerning their use. Besides the three main ‘take-home’ messages from the new guidelines, participants will learn why the guidelines were developed and how the authors envisage the guidelines will be implemented.